PERTH (miningweekly.com) – New data by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows that mineral exploration expenditure in the June quarter of this year increased.

In seasonally adjusted terms, exploration expenditure in June rose by 24.1%, or A$177.2-million, to A$912-million compared with the previous quarter, with brownfield exploration rising by A$119-million to A$601.5-million, and greenfield exploration increasing by A$58.2-million to A$310.5-million.

Metres drilled grew with greenfield exploration up 26% and brownfield exploration up 32%.

Gold recorded the largest increase in exploration expenditure, the ABS noted, increasing by some 19.3%, or A$69.6-million, to A$429-million.

“Overall, mineral exploration expenditure for the June 2021 quarter was 33%, or A$228.7-million higher than for June 2020. The industry is performing strongly despite continuing Covid-19 restrictions,” said the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (Amec) CEO Warren Pearce.

This quarter, total expenditure grew in Victoria by 8%, South Australia by 35%, Western Australia by 24%, Northern Territory by 50%, Queensland by 25% and New South Wales by 28%.

Tasmania was the only state to suffer a fall in expenditure dropping 30%, or A$1.3-million. 

“Every type of mineral has seen strong growth, with gold, iron-ore and selected base metals expenditure increasing 19%, or A$69.6-million, 49%, or A$49.6-million, and 21%, or A$34-million respectively,” said Pearce.

“The June quarter has bought significant increases in greenfield exploration expenditure. Queensland particularly had a strong quarter growing 79%, or A$16.8-million, up 10%, or A$8.9-million on the last year. Similarly, Western Australia had growth of 19%, or A$32.1-million, on last quarter but, more impressively, greenfields exploration in Western Australia was up 51%, or A$68-million from June last year.”

“Despite greater restrictions around accessing remote locations, greenfields exploration has flourished safely around Australia, helping to discover future mines.”

“Investment into Australian mineral exploration is vital for the future of the mining industry and today’s figures hold the promise of more jobs and economic growth to come,” said Pearce.

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) noted that the state’s total exploration expenditure for the past financial year has risen by 11% to reach A$708-million, compared with A$638-million in 2019/2020, which is Queensland’s strongest result since 2014/15.

“These latest figures show our explorers have managed to continue to expand their exploration programs over the past 12 months in spite of Covid-19's impact on their ability to recruit skilled workers and source equipment from overseas and interstate,” QRC CEO Ian Macfarlane said.

“This demonstrates the continuing strength and ingenuity of the resources sector, which benefits every Queenslander in terms of job opportunities and our industry’s ongoing economic contribution to the state budget.”

Queensland Exploration Council (QEC) chairperson Kim Wainwright said the stand-out areas of exploration expenditure for Queensland minerals were gold, which experienced a 43% jump, and copper which rose 20% compared to 2019/20.

Selected base metals expenditure, which includes copper, silver, lead, zinc, nickel and cobalt, was up 10% on 2019/20, although coal exploration expenditure fell by 20%.

Wainwright said despite the fall in coal expenditure, the recent surge in metallurgical and thermal coal prices and a 2% increase in the June quarter exploration expenditure are signs of better news to come.

“The QEC looks forward to seeing stable growth in exploration expenditure in future quarters and this positivity reflected in our Exploration Scorecard Sentiment Survey, which will be released in December,” she said.